Last Child-Free Days

I am going in to be induced tomorrow at 8:30 AM. It's only one and a half weeks before my due date, and there are concerns that make it necessary:  my blood pressure, the fact that the placenta is calcifying and the amount of amniotic fluid is borderline. It's going to be a long haul, though, because the baby has not dropped yet and my body is not yet ready to give birth, so modern medicine will make it ready. However, I feel mentally ready--I woke up this morning feeling better than I have in weeks. I really hate bed rest, and while I fully realize that the demands of taking care of a newborn may make bed rest seem like a vacation, I am looking forward to really simple things: driving my car, walking up and down the stairs when I want, not taking my blood pressure all the time. I feel as though doing something is bettter than nothing--even if the something keeps you busy all of the time.

One tip I have for future moms-to-be is not to watch the Discovery Health channel shows about childbirth--they are scary and don't help. Yesterday I watched one wherein a young, healthy woman (a nurse, even!) who was truly enthusiastic about a natural birth spent her labor screaming, puking, and pushing for (get this) 40 hours, only to almost hemorrage to death. What bothered me was the show's clear message that women who claim to want no drugs and no medical assistance are full of crap and can't handle the pain. They practically blamed her for the bleeding, because she "insisted on not having a C-section." However, that same show seems to have no problem with their own doctors, who are over 40, getting invasive infertility treatments and then routinely scanning themselves at work. This is the same network that brings us "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant" and another show that featured a 55-year old pregnant woman, whose husband was 64. The 55-year old wants to have another baby, too.

So, as of early this week, we will have a new person living with us, a person who will be our responsibility, and we know very little about him or her so far. Scott was a good, mellow baby, and I was a colicky monster, so here's hoping this baby takes after him.